Olek’s “Russia’s Pride” Installation in St. Petersburg

Russia has been in the news lately for its government’s stance against gay rights, and Olek (who is featured in our forthcoming issue, Hi-Fructose Vol. 29) was abhorred. “The recent government decision regarding gay rights in Russia made me want to boycott the country,” she wrote on her Huffington Post blog. But after some consideration, Olek boarded a plane to St. Petersburg with God-knows-how-many pounds of camouflage crocheted fabric. Her mission was to swathe the facade of Galeria, a huge downtown shopping center, with a crochet rainbow as a pro-LGBTQ message that anyone could appreciate on an aesthetic level. Olek sent over some photos of the creation of “Russia’s Pride.”